Christmas 2010

Christmas really sneaked up on me this year. I think it's partly because the weather hasn't been TOO terribly bad. But it came either way and I was somewhat prepared for it. Our plans seemed to keep shifting and shaping but we eventually got everything settled. Sean, Kaelyn and I actually started opening our presents the weekend before Christmas. It was nice to spread it out a little! Sean gave Kaelyn her gift from him first...his old musical keyboard! We set it up on the toy box and she stands and plays beautiful music all the time. She also likes to climb on and over the keyboard which also makes interesting sounds! :) Next, we gave her a Zhu zhu pet. It seemed like a good idea. It was small and furry and would run around on the ground so she could chase it. Well, she seemed a little interested at first, but when she couldn't actually CATCH the thing, she got mad. Now every time she sees it she yells at it. I'm not sure if she was scared of it or just frustrated that she had trouble catching it. Either way, I'm glad it didn't cost much because we haven't been playing with it. Sean and I also gave Kaelyn a big playset that we set up in the basement back in November. It was meant to be a Christmas present but we set it up when the weather started to get cold so we'd have more to do inside. It has two slides, one down each side, a couple of steps, a steering wheel, and has been all sorts of fun for her. She likes to throw her animals on wheels down the slides along with assorted balls and other things. She slides as well and has recently taken her bubble popper toy downstairs to put that down the slide as well. We saved her last gift for right before we left on our Christmas adventures. I gave her an Elmo toy that sings 10 different songs. She mostly seems to like the chicken dance song and stomps along. Occasionally she will push another button and I am always grateful for that. But hey, I don't care if she makes a lot of noise, as long as she's not yelling at me, I'm happy! So play that chicken dance, girl!! :) Elmo had to go along with us on our travels because he needed to be poked more than just for the one day.

We started our adventure by driving to Des Moines to stay with my parents. We went on Thursday the 23rd during Kaelyn's nap. When we unpacked at their house, it was like we were moving in. 4 days is a long time! :) On Christmas Eve we spend the morning at my parents house playing around and then headed to Chick-Fil-A at the mall for lunch. It was my kind of day! :) Because it was snowing a little, there weren't many people there so that was nice. Ah yes, a white Christmas. I think I would have preferred a WARM Christmas, but whatever. After Kaelyn got up from her nap we headed over to Sean's brother's house. He lives about 15 minutes away from my parents so that was handy. It worked out nicely travel-wise for us this year. Sean's brother and his wife just had a baby in October and weren't up for traveling yet so they invited his immediate family over there to celebrate. That was great because that meant we didn't have to try to travel 3 1/2 hours between the two families in a short amount of time. We still got to see everyone and only had to drive one direction. The bummer of it was that Kaelyn did not cooperate with me pretty much all afternoon. It wasn't much fun for me. I don't know if it was her cold (she'd had a little one for a couple of weeks), being in a different house, being grumpy after her nap, or any number of combinations. It was just a rough afternoon. She kept wanting to go to the basement. It was a small, unfinished area and there wasn't much down there. I usually went just to keep her happy. But sometimes, like when opening presents, we just couldn't take off. And that made her MAD. She also wanted to crawl and stand on the counters where others were preparing food. That's not really a good idea and I wouldn't let her. That made her MAD as well. I got yelled at a lot and wasn't able to enjoy the afternoon or evening because trying to keep her semi happy was taking ALL my energy and then some. She even yelled through much of the present opening. Finally, just before 8, I had had enough. It was close to bed time anyways so I threw her in her pjs and took off. I hope I didn't seem too rude. I didn't take time to say much to anyone, I just went. I was SO tired of being screamed at! Kaelyn didn't fall asleep on the drive back to my parents house but when I put her in bed there she didn't make a peep. She must have known I couldn't take one more little yell! :) I left her there in bed to sleep and when my parents got home from church I went back to Sean's brother's house. We played bop it and there were a few more gifts to open. I fell asleep on the couch eventually, but it was the nicest time I had ALL day. Other than Chick-fil-A, maybe! ;) It was so peaceful and quiet and I could talk to everyone and enjoy the evening without having to entertain or be screamed at for no particular reason. Ahhh.

Christmas Day Kaelyn seemed to be in better spirits. We were all pretty lazy and it took until Kaelyn's nap time for all of us to get ready and showered and dressed etc. Even Kaelyn slept in. And I let her! I didn't want her getting up ANY earlier than necessary. I think it was about 9 before she finally decided to see the light of day. She was worn out from all the screaming! :) So we lounged around and after her nap that afternoon, we headed to my sister's house to see my niece and nephew's new toys. They had chili for supper. Kaelyn enjoyed playing in their school room which had some desks and chairs she could climb and some balloons she could toss. She also enjoyed playing in their big walk-in pantry, of all places! She liked investigating all the items, I guess, and climbing on the little step stool. Whatever, she was happy! I wasn't able to visit with everyone as much since I was playing with her in other rooms, but at least I wasn't being screamed at! We headed home before her bedtime and got back to my parents house in time to let her run a bit and then head to bed.

On Sunday the 26th we went to a 9:30 church service at my parents church. Kaelyn LOVES playing on the ramps at that church. It's usually no big deal and I don't feel like it bothers anyone. But lately, she's enjoyed being chased and hiding from me and having me find her etc.
Well, at church, she would go up the ramp and as she thundered back down she would see me again and it was like I "found" her and this illicited excited screams. I didn't think AHHHH in the middle of the silent prayer was a good thing, but at least she was happy! Eventually she got done with the ramps and we were able to sit and look at her books for most of the rest of the service. I guess she wore out? Is that possible? Um no! :) We went back to my parents for lunch and my sister and her gang came over. After we ate we opened our stockings quickly and I put Kaelyn in bed for her nap. Once she was awake the present opening began! It took her a little while to wake up but once she did and realized what was going on, boy did she have fun. This was the first time she really got into opening presents. She didn't care what was in them once the paper was off, but boy did she love opening the paper! She couldn't open them fast enough. She'd open one and then reach for the next. Sean was just trying to keep up and make sure she wasn't opening other people's presents as she brought them out. Which she did...mine!! I think I only opened maybe half of mine and some things I didn't even know I got until I packed things up the next day! Oh well, she was having fun so who cares! She got a lot of neat new toys and some clothes and pjs too. She's one happy girl! After all the craziness I think Kaelyn was ready to get away. The gifts were done and she had nothing left to tear apart so rather than play with all her new things she grabbed my finger and took me upstairs to chase her with her favorite Tiger toy. I think she just needed a little peace and to get back to the norm for a little while. It was hard for me to have to stay away from the group again. Play like we always play at home and all. But I figured at least she was happy and that was better than trying to force her to be in a room she didn't want to be in and have her scream at me.

The rest of the day went pretty fast and we just played and played. When Kaelyn went to bed my niece wanted to watch Ramona and Beezus. That was pretty cute. The next day, it was all over. It was still crazy because we were all in one house, but the major chaos was behind us. We all packed up and headed to the mall for lunch. Sean, Kaelyn and I went early so she could play for awhile and get some running in. She did plenty of that! Then we ate at Chick-Fil-A again and went our separate ways. We drove home and Kaelyn fell asleep before we hit the interstate and slept the WHOLE way. I think she was really worn out from it all!

The night we got back, Kaelyn coughed ALL night long. I think I got maybe 3 hours of sleep. As I mentioned she'd had a little cold for several weeks. But I was getting worried that it was sticking around and didn't like the sounds of the cough so I took her to the doctor our first morning back home. It turns out she has her FIRST ear infection and possibly sinus infection as well. The doctor was impressed that this was her FIRST visit to the office other than regular check up and shot visits. Her left ear is pretty bad and the right ear slightly infected as well. She's on antibiotics for 10 days. So far that hasn't been fun. The first dose ended up back on her shirt after I put it in her mouth! :) But after just two doses, she only woke up twice last night coughing and only for 15 minutes instead of 2 hours like the night before. SO hopefully she's on the mend already. Maybe that was part of the issue CHristmas Eve? Who knows! She's not telling!!

Overall it was a great Christmas. We got everything we could have wanted and more, and more importantly, got to spend time with family. We have one more Christmas celebration New Year's Eve weekend so hopefully that will make up for KAelyn's attitude CHristmas Eve since the party is with Sean's family again. I hope she's an angel this time around! For her sake AND for mine! And everyone else's for that matter!

Merry Christmas and have a great 2011!!